Year 9 T2 Science – Earth and Space

Non-living components of an ecosystem

Abiotic factors

Rain with pH below 5.6, caused by SO₂ and NOx dissolving in water vapour to form acids

Acid rain

A measure of how much incoming radiation a surface reflects, ranging from 0 to 1

Albedo

Layer of gasses surrounding the Earth, held in place by gravity

Atmosphere

The variety of life on Earth or in a particular region

Biodiversity

All living organisms and the environments they inhabit on Earth

Biosphere

The living components of an ecosystem

Biotic factors

The movement of carbon within and between all four Earth systems

Carbon cycle

The rate at which carbon is transferred between reservoirs, measured in GtC/year

Carbon flux

A weak, inorganic acid formed when CO₂ dissolves in water

Carbonic acid

A toxic gas produced by incomplete combustion that binds to haemoglobin and prevents oxygen transport in blood

Carbon monoxide (CO)

A reservoir that releases more carbon than it absorbs, such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation

Carbon source

A reservoir that absorbs more carbon than it releases, such as growing forests and the ocean surface

Carbon sink

Any part of Earth that stores carbon for a period of time, such as the atmosphere, the ocean, soil, and fossil fuels

Carbon reservoir

Synthetic, or man-made, compounds of C (Carbon), F (Fluorine), and CI (Chlorine) that were used in refrigerants. They destroy ozone and act as potent GHGs

CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons)

Green pigment found in chloroplasts that capture light energy for photosynthesis

Chlorophyll

Organelle found in plant cells in which photosynthesis occurs

Chloroplast

A system that exchanges energy with its surroundings but does not exchange matter

Closed system

A chemical reaction between oxygen and a fuel that releases light and heat energy

Combustion

Combustion with excess oxygen that produces CO₂ and H₂O only with a blue flame

Complete combustion

An organism that eats other organisms to obtain energy

Consumer

Ancient photosynthetic bacteria responsible for creating the oxygen found in the Earth’s atmosphere over billions of years

Cyanobacteria

Organisms that break down dead organic matter, recycling nutrients

Decomposer

A community of organisms interacting with each other and their non-living environment

Ecosystem

A form of energy that travels through space as oscillating electric and magnetic fields

Electromagnetic radiation

The capacity to do work or cause change

Energy

The increased warming of Earth, caused by extra greenhouse gases from human activities, especially combustion

Enhanced greenhouse effect

carbon-containing fuels (such as coal, oil, and gas) formed from ancient organisms over millions of years

Fossil fuel

All of Earth’s solid rock, soil, and sediment, from the crust to the core

Geosphere

1 GtC = 1 billion tonnes of carbon (10⁹ tonnes). Used to measure carbon stored in reservoirs and transferred in fluxes

Gigatonne of carbon (GtC)

A simple sugar produced by photosynthesis that is the primary fuel for cellular respiration

Glucose

A period ~2.4 billion years ago when atmospheric oxygen levels were dramatically increased as cyanobacteria developed the ability to photosynthesise

Great Oxidation Event

The process in which greenhouse gases warm Earth’s surface by absorbing and re-emitting outgoing infared radiation

Greenhouse effect

A gas that absorbs and re-emits infared radiation such as CO₂ (carbon dioxide), CH₄ (methane), H₂O vapour (water vapour), N₂O (nitrous oxide), and O₃ (ozone)

Greenhouse Gas (GHG)

Replacements for CFCs that do not damage ozone but are potent greenhouse gases

HFCs (Hydrofluorocarbons)

A compound containing only carbon and hydrogen atoms (e.g. methane CH₄, octane C₈H₁₈)

Hydrocarbon

All water on, above, and below Earth’s surface in all its forms (solid, liquid, gas)

Hydrosphere

Combustion with limited oxygen that produces CO, soot, (C), and H₂O with a yellow/orange sooty flame

Incomplete combustion

The process by which water on the Earth’s surface is absorbed into the soil

Infiltration

when two or more systems exchange matter or energy and affect each other

Interaction

Low-energy heat radiation emitted by warm surfaces that is absorbed by greenhouse gases and cannot escape as easily as short wave radiation

Long-wave infared radiation

Any physical substance that has mass and occupies space

Matter

An international treaty signed in 1987 that phased out CCFCs and other ozone-depleting substances

Montreal Protocol

The board term referring to a family of highly reactive nitrogen oxides

NOx

The process by which dissolved gasses are released from the hydrosphere into the atmosphere

Ocean outgassing

A layer of O₃ (ozone) in the stratosphere that protects organisms by absorbing harmful UV radiation from the Sun

Ozone layer

Parts per million

PPM

Process by which plants use light energy, CO₂, and water to produce glucose and oxygen

Photosynthesis

Any liquid or solid water that condensers from atmospheric water vapour and falls to the ground due to gravity

Precipitation

An organism that makes its own food via photosynthesis

Producer

Process by which living cells break down glucose using oxygen to release energy, producing water and CO₂

Respiration

A natural resource that replenishes itself at a rate equal to or faster than it is consumed

Renewable resource

The annual rise and fall in atmospheric CO₂ driven by the Northern Hemisphere growing season

Seasonal CO₂ cycle

High-energy electromagnetic radiation from the Sun (visible light, UV) that passes through glass and greenhouse gases

Short-wave radiation

A severe, hazy form of air pollution that resembles a mixture of smoke and fog

Smog

Tiny pores found on leaf surfaces through which CO₂ enters and O₂ & water vapour exit

Stomata

The flow of excess water from precipitation that travels over the Earth’s surface

Surface runoff

a set of interconnected parts that work together as a whole

System

The heat energy emitted by Earth’s warmed surface back towards the atmosphere and space

Terrestrial radiation

The process by which plants absorb liquid water from soil and release into the atmosphere as water vapour

Transpiration

The specific position an organism occupies in a food chain or ecological pyramid, classified by how it gets its energy

Trophic level

The continuous movement of water on Earth

Water cycle

Only ~10% of energy is transferred between each trophic level, the rest is lost as heat

10% rule